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Monday, December 20, 2010

Dinner Date: Park Tavern Skating and Sushi

Nothing says cozying up to your sweetie on a cold winter's night quite like sushi, right? It may not be the first thing that comes to mind, but it turns out that Park Tavern has an exciting array of delightful sushi and sashimi options in addition to its other wide ranging options.

First, work up an appetite at the Park Tavern's skating rink. The rink is under a tent in the area where outdoor dining and weddings are typically set up in warmer months. It's lit for day or night skating, and for you and your sweetie's comfort it's heated with music playing. It's just $10 to skate and $5 for skate rentals. You can order your tickets in advance right here.

Once you've worked up a (frozen) sweat and hopefully avoided sustaining major injury, you can dine right next to the rink. To be honest, my expectations for Park Tavern sushi were extremely low. I have always pegged Park Tavern for the type of place that banks on its amazing location and doesn't care much about food quality. So color me surprised, it turns out they have quite an elaborate sushi and sashimi program.

Park Tavern's Sushi Chef Chapin Vilasineekul shows us the spread

The fish is flown in fresh from Hawaii daily, so what you're eating was swimming in the warm seas near Waikiki just a day ago. The seared rare kobe is 100% waygu beef, one of only a few restaurants in the entire country serving 100%. Now this was pretty unexpected...who would think that Park Tavern was serving such rarefied beef?

Each sushi roll and piece of sashimi I tried was ultra fresh, flavorful and practically melted in my mouth. Having lived in both NYC and LA, where sushi is light-years above what you can typically get in landlocked Atlanta, I was pretty darn impressed.

Sashimi searing on a Himalayan Salt Block

If you really want to impress your date, you can order the Salt Block Experience. For $29 per person, you can sear your own sashimi grade fish and tender wagyu beef on a hot Himalayan Salt Block. It's served with seaweed wraps, sushi rice, and various sauces so you can build your own hand rolls. Much like fondue or Korean BBQ restaurants, half the fun is in engaging with your food, rather than just shoveling it down. The salt block cooks pretty slowly, so I preferred to just lightly sear my fish and enjoy its ultra fresh taste. Granted at that price point, it can get a bit pricey for a meal that's not especially filling, but it's yummy and fun, so it's perfect for a date that aims to impress and entertain.